READING: BETWEEN AFTER MIDNINGHT AND DAWN THURSDAY

Zohar for All. Introduction of The Book of Zohar. BeHibaraam [When They Were Created] – BeAvraham [In Abraham]

LESSON MATERIAL

BeHibaraam [When They Were Created] – BeAvraham [In Abraham]

45) Barah [created] is a hidden word that indicates that the key closes and does not open. And while the key closes with the word Barah, the world was not, it did not exist, and Tohu [chaos] was covering everything. While this Tohu was dominating, the world was not, and did not exist.

46) When did that key open the gates and was prepared to be used and to produce offspring? When Abraham, Hesed, arrived, as it is written, “These are the generations of the heaven and the earth when they were created.” Do not pronounce it “BeHibaraam” [When they were created], but “BeAvraham” [In Abraham]. Then all that was hidden in the word Barah, the letters, the vessels, were used again and they opened to listen. Then the pillar that produces offspring came out, the holy foundation organ on which the world stands, since Barah [created] has the letters of EVAR [Aleph-Bet-Reish, forming the word “organ”].

And when did that key open the gates and was made ready for use and for bearing offspring? There are three things in this question: 1) Opening the gates means the descent of the bottom Hey from NE to the Peh, at which time the forty-nine gates open in Mochin of Hochma. 2) Being made ready for use in clothing of Hochma in light of Hassadim, where before the clothing of light of Hochma in light of Hassadim, the AHP could not receive the Mochin of Hochma, even though they already conjoined in GE into a single degree. This is so because without clothing of Hassadim, MI would not shine in ELEH, and ELEH would still be concealed in the name, and it is considered that the Mochin were not yet made available for use in the lower one. 3) To produce offspring means begetting souls, since once ZA receives those Mochin in full, he makes a coupling with the Nukva and begets the souls of the righteous.

And he replies, “When Abraham came.” Having been entirely hidden in the word Barah, the letters were reused—Abraham, Hesed of ZA of Gadlut, at which time Hesed became Hochma. And before Abraham came, everything was hidden in the word Barah, and Tohu, ZON, governed the world. Also, ZON had neither Hassadim nor Hochma, and when Abraham came, meaning the light of Hesed that is imparted in ZA, the gates were opened in abundance of Hochma, since the bottom Hey descended from the Einayim to the Peh, YESHSUT bonded with AVI into a single degree, and GAR of lights were drawn to YESHSUT, meaning light of Hochma.

And since ZA already had light of Hassadim from Abraham, light of Hochma clothed in light of Hassadim, the letters ELEH bonded with MI, the name Elokim was complemented, and the Mochin clothed in ZA. This is why it was said that when Abraham came, the letters were reused, meaning that Mochin of Hochma were drawn into the Hassadim and clothed in ZA, and the pillar that produces offspring came out, since then the bottom Hey descended from NE to Peh, and it, too, obtained Bina. Also, ZA and Nukva, of whom he was deficient, are called “new NHY” in him, with Yesod of Gadlut, which is called “a holy foundation organ on which the world stands,” since through this organ he imparts upon the Nukva, who is called “the bottom world,” begetting the souls of the righteous.

47) When this EVAR [organ] is inscribed in the word Barah, the upper, hidden one inscribes another for His name and honor. This is the MI. And He created ELEH. Also, the holy, blessed name MA was inscribed and took out EVAR from the word Barah. It is inscribed in ELEH from this side and in EVAR from that side. The hidden one, ELEH, exists, and EVAR exists. When one is completed, the other is completed. He engraved the letter Hey for this EVAR, and engraved the letter Yod for ELEH.

Now The Zohar details the Mochin of ZA, which it previously introduced in general. It says that when the EVAR is inscribed in the word Barah, the upper, hidden one inscribes another for His name and honor, meaning MI. This is so because the EVAR is Yesod and Atara [crown], and Barah indicates the closing of the GAR by the ascent of the bottom Hey to NE. The Atara of the EVAR is inscribed in the bottom Hey in NE, just as the lock, the bottom Hey, is inscribed in the inscription of the key, Ateret Yesod.

It is considered that that hidden, upper one, upper AVI, who are inscribed in the bottom Hey, have now made another inscription in their lock, the inscription of the key, who is the Atara of the EVAR. Then, MI is regarded as poised for a question, worthy of receiving MAN, lowering the bottom Hey from the Eynaim, and elevating the letters ELEH to them, the AHP, with which the GAR of lights are extended. But before the bottom Hey was inscribed in the inscription of the EVAR, there was no extension of GAR because the bottom Hey herself is the fiftieth gate, which does not open with GAR. Hence, before they are inscribed in the key of the EVAR, they are not called MI because they are not poised for a question.

And when this EVAR was inscribed in the word Barah, when the bottom Hey in the word Barah received the inscription of EVAR, who is the key, the upper, hidden one inscribed another inscription for His name and honor, and this is the MI. Then, AVI inscribe the key in the bottom Hey in their NE, to be worthy of being called MI, meaning poised for a question, and to extend Mochin of GAR, since the Mochin are extended only in the inscription of the key.

He Barah ELEH [He created these], meaning that after the lock in the word Barah was inscribed with the record of the key, the EVAR, and became MI, then MI created ELEH. This means that the bottom Hey descended from NE to the Peh and raised AHP, the letters ELEH, to the Rosh, and GAR were extended. He created ELEH means concealment, since there is still no clothing of Hassadim in them, and the letters ELEH that rose are still hidden in the name and cannot be revealed without clothing of Hassadim.

The holy, blessed name, too, MA, was inscribed and elicited EVAR out of the word Barah. Malchut that descended from the Einayim to the Peh is called MA because the lower world is called MA. This is the screen that was previously in NE. Now it came down to the Peh, the coupling was made on her, and she elicited the level of Hassadim, a light of blessing. By that, it brought out the concealment of the word Barah and made it EVAR, Yesod that gives Hassadim.

The holy, blessed name, too, MA, was inscribed and elicited EVAR from the word Barah, since the light of Hassadim was still absent in the letters ELEH, to clothe in them, hence ELEH were still hidden in the name. Thus, through the light of the blessing of MA, the blocking of Barah was opened and became a giving EVAR.

“It is inscribed in ELEH from this side and in EVAR from that side.” Now two degrees are discerned in them, one opposite the other, since ELEH are AHP with the Mochin of Hochma, which are still deficient of Hassadim on this side, and EVAR, Yesod that received the level of Hassadim from the MA, stands opposite him on that side, deficient of Hochma.

It was said that the hidden, holy one, ELEH, exists, and EVAR exists, since ELEH that obtained the Mochin of Hochma, who is called “holiness,” is concealed in the Partzuf on this side, and opposite it stands EVAR at the level of Hassadim in the Partzuf. When one is completed, the other is completed, since both went out through the descent of the bottom Hey from NE to the Peh, since the EVAR went out by the MA in the Peh. Similarly, ELEH, who are AHP, rose by the coming of Malchut below them to the Peh. It follows that when one is completed, the other is completed because they come at once.

“He engraved the letter Hey for this EVAR, and engraved the letter Yod for ELEH,” since Hey indicates the screen that yields only the level of Hassadim without Hochma, as she is Malchut, who is unfit to receive Hochma, but only Hassadim, while Yod indicates a screen of a male, suitable for reception of Hochma. This is why he engraved the letter Hey for this EVAR, with the screen MA, which extends only Hassadim without Hochma, and engraved the letter Yod for this ELEH, with a screen of a male, who extends Hochma and not Hassadim.

48) When the letters awakened, EVAR, Hey, and the letters ELEH, Yod, to complement this side and that side, He elicited the letter Mem. One took the Mem to this side, next to the letters Eloki [ELEH-Yod], and one took the Mem to that side, next to the letters Avraha [EVAR-Hey]. Thus, the holy name was completed, the combination Elokim was made, and the name Avraham [Abraham] was completed, too. This is why it was said that when one was completed, the other was also completed.

And there are those who say that the Creator took the letters MI and placed them in the letters ELEH, forming the combination Elokim. And the Creator took the letters MA and placed them in EVAR, forming the combination Avraham. The word MI implies to fifty gates of Bina. Also, there is the letter Yod in the letter MI, the first letter of the holy name. And the word MA implies to the holy name because HaVaYaH filled with the letters Aleph is MA in Gematria (45).

Also, in the word MA, there is the second letter of the holy name HaVaYaH, the letter Hey. It is written, “Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord [HaVaYaH].” And it is written, “And hangs the earth on Bli MA [Hebrew: “nothing,” and also “without MA”].” This implies to the number HaVaYaH filled with the letters Aleph, which is MA in Gematria, and then the two worlds existed—the next world in Yod, and this world in Hey. He created the next world with MI, and He created this world with MA, and this implies the above and below.

And then He produced offspring and the name came out whole, which was not so before. It is written about it, “These are the generations of the heaven and the earth BeHibaram [when they were created],” which are the letters of BeAvraham [in Abraham], since all the generations were hanging incomplete until the name Abraham was created. When that name, Abraham, was completed, the holy name was completed, as it is written, “On the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven.” “On the day that [the Lord God] made” is the day when they were completed through the name Abraham, and then the name HaVaYaH is mentioned. The name HaVaYaH was not mentioned in the Torah thus far.

Those two levels, the light of Hochma in ELEH, and the light of Hassadim in MA, awakened to complement one another, to clothe in one another. Then, once the Hochma clothed in Hassadim, He elicited Mem, the Malchut that receives from those two levels together.

One took the Mem next to the letters Eloki, and one took the Mem next to the letters Avraha, and the holy name was completed. The combination Elokim was formed, and so was the name Abraham, since now there are four letters Eloki. And also, He engraved the letter Hey for that Evar, and there are the four letters Avraha there. Thus, now the letters have been complemented one atop the other, clothing the two levels, Hochma and Hassadim in one another, and eliciting Mem, Malchut that receives from all of them.

Then one took that Mem to this side, the side of the letters of Eloki, and one took the Mem to that side, the side of the letters of Avraha. When the letters Eloki receive the Mem, the holy name is completed and the combination Elokim is formed, and the letters Avraha receive the Mem, and the name Avraham is completed, too.

And when that name, Avraham, is completed, the holy name is completed, for they are two levels, Hochma and Hassadim, which need each other. Hence, the holy name was not completed before the name Avraham was completed.